Operation 007 (SpyxFamily)

Ch. 10: Part Two

There was a spark.

A ray of hope that made all the killing worth it.

An event for the underworlds most influential, attended by a child of all things.

No more than five. Green eyes and horns. Dark brown hair.

. . .Dark brown hair. . .

Yor's heart leapt with anticipation until those words. Anya looked young for her age, that didn't surprise her. But. . .

Dark brown hair. . .

It was still a lead. She would follow it until it died.

Who else wore horns and had green eyes? It may not be her, but it was the best hope she'd had in four weeks.

She'd tracked down several of the attendees from that event. Going through criminals until she found one with names and wrung them out of her, going from one to the next on that list.

Many had seen the little girl. None of them knew where she came from.

That was fine.

She would kill and torture them all if she had to.

——————-

Yuri grew tired of this woman very quickly.

They interrogated and tortured her, even kept her from sleeping properly, but after a week she still didn't break.

It wasn't uncommon. Spies were trained for this. But they'd be tired. Losing spirit.

'Susan Hopkins' was not one of those people. She was as defiant and unbreakable as ever. If possible, more so than when they started. As if the experience reaffirmed her dedication.

Yuri needed to change his tactics. Something that would work.

Using a loved one was out the window. She didn't have any.

Spies didn't have any. They were notorious in the SSS for having nothing to tie them down. It was why they could work like they did. Moving from place to place. A new identity for every case.

Yuri stood outside the interrogation room, watching the woman through the two-way mirror. She sat alone, a bloodied face, a broken hand.

Interrogating a spy was like trying to move a boulder without the right leverage.

They'd been asking about Anya, but she'd given nothing. Hadn't screamed or cried. Not a sound. The pain seemingly nothing to her.

Yuri was sure she'd been hired.

They raided her apartment, no sign of Anya. Raided everywhere else she was affiliated with, no sign of Anya.

Which meant she was most likely handed off to someone else.

It could have been to the agency she worked with, but it didn't add up.

Spies don't kidnap. Spies gather intel. They sneak into places they're not supposed to be. They use information to further their cause.

Which left the other option: a hired spy.

Not common, but not unheard of.

Most spies worked within an agency, towards their countries futures. While few, worked for themselves, leasing their services to anyone who could afford them.

Her client could've used muscle, the most obvious choice, but they hired a spy.

A spy that handled it quietly, deftly, before anyone was the wiser. Covering her tracks with no way for anyone to find the girl.